i think the good news for the country this year is the side that told the truth more often than the others, although not always, won the election. the side that said things that were dead wrong about the jeep factory heading to china and the nonsense heading to work requirement for welfare and the pathetic claim that president obama spends his time out there in the world apologizing lost. it really did. and maybe, just maybe, the reason the people telling the most truth won. and the people telling the most untruth lost. it's for that very reason. we were, all of us, paying attention because it really mattered. that's "hardball" for now. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. >> thanks, chris. and thanks for tuning in. tonight's lead, republicans are picking a fight they can't win. new evidence today that president obama is in a strong position in this nation's fight for fairness. and republicans are on the losing end of this fight.

now, new polls show 65% of americans believe the president does have a mandate to raise taxes on the wealthy. 62% say he's got a mandate to protect medicare. and 64% says he's got a mandate to protect social security. that is a winning hand. the president has it and he knows it. >> i'm pretty confident that republicans would not hold middle class taxes hostage to try to protect tax cuts for high income individuals. >> and get this. 160 ceos from america's biggest companies are also now saying it's time to raise taxes on the rich. but, speaker john boehner is sticking to his talking points;

at least publically. he's refusing to budge. >> the longer the white house slow walks this discussion, the pa closer we get to this year's fiscal close. >> boehner can blame the president all he wants. the reality is americans want to compromise. a new nbc wall street journal shows 65% want both sides to come together and make a deal. but that's not what's been happening in these talks. president obama made his opening offer, the republicans responded. the president then came back with a counter offer that included some concessions, so far so good. that's how negotiations work. but, then, republicans went the other way. they came back with an offer that was even more out of bounds than the first one. nbc news reports boehner now

wants to make the bush tax cuts for the rich permanent. what's he thinking? we're going in the wrong direction in this country when it comes to economic fairness. incomes for the top 20% in this country are now eight times greater than the incomes for the bottom 20%. this inequality has been getting worse. growing by the year. this is not a democratic issue. this is not a republican issue. it's a basic american issue that touches all of us. it is for the good of the country. and it's time for speaker boehner and the rest of the gop to step up. joining me now, marie cox, washington correspondent for the guardian. and leah henderson, national reporter for the washington post. thank you both for being here this evening. >> it's great to be here. >> good to be here. >> leah, let me start with you. the republicans realize they're on the wrong side of public opinion here? or do they care?

>> well, you know, i think you definitely see from democrats from the president using the power of the bully pulpit really underscoring the fact that he won the election. you had pelossi saying essentially that where republicans are ice lated from the public in terms of their stance from the tax hike. i think you see the president continue a campaign that he started in 2008, really, a campaign against extending these tax cuts. now he's able to go to not only the american people, but businesses in wall street. and in that way, i think he's giving cover to some republicans who have been so staunchly opposed to these tax hikes. i think one of the things that's real real really interesting is that is this report that's out from speaker boehner that shows he's holding the lienl. even tea party americans come out and say, basically concede

that they would be willing to see these tax hikes if there are cuts on the other side in terms of spending. >> now, marie, you're not in the beltway, you're not in washington. and the way that i'm seeing thele po polls and in my own travels, people around the country just don't seem happy with how boehner is handling this. 24% approve, disapprove, 54%. this is a washington post poll. what are the feels you're getting out there, anna marie? >> it's all anecdotal. but from my experience living out here in the midwest, the american people are pretty common sense kl. in the way they look at the politics is that people should behave like you would in any other negotiating situation. if you were sitting down with your boss or in your house or something. when they bring that logic to

washington, what boehner is doing makes no sense at all. these tax cuts for the very wealthy, it's so blatantly unpopular. it goes against logic. it's such a thing that you could -- it seems like a very common sense thing to put on the table in order to reach, you know, a compromise. i think that's what people are reacting to. now, we know it's more complicated than that for some, you know, for boehner. he has to lead a coalition that has some complicated stuff going on. but it's true. he's just going to get more unpopular the closer we get to this cliff. the more it looks like he's stepping on the gas to go into it. >> leah, even republicans are saying the president has a mandate to raise taxes on the rich. when they were questioned in a poll, among republicans, 45% said yes. 53% said no, that's high for republicans. but going to anna marie's point, when you look at the hand that

mr. boehner is playing from his own party, when you asked democrats whether they approve or how the president is handling the talks, 79% of democrats think the president is handling it well. only 39% of republicans approve of boehner's handling of it. so it's not like he has the wind to his back. >> that's right. i think that speaks to, really, this is a fractionist party. boehner's is the leader of this house faction, but i think the republican party is very split nationwide and those polls suggest -- and i do think, also, that we're seeing a lot in the public play out. but there's all sorts of private talks going on that we just don't know about. you heard from pelosi today about talks that she had. of what her impressions of where this deal actually is. you heard from jay carney the same thing. they don't want to play this out in public. they don't want to play it out in that way because it might

jeopardize a deal later on. on the one hand, you have boehner with a public theater that may not actually be in keeping with what is actually going on behind closed doors. i think both of these men are ultimately going to have to get a deal done. and both of them are thinking about their legacy. they're also thinking about what it's going to mean next year to govern and push for some other bigger issues around entitlement reform and in terms of immigration reform in some big ticket items that they're going to have to come together and work through. >> now, an thna anna marie, it' difficult being a speaker. but today, he got a little free advice from none other than majority leader nancy pelosi. listen to her advice to mr. boehner. >> do you know what it was like for me to bring a bill to florida to fund the war in iraq? it's tough. but you have to do it. so is the point that you don't want to put your members on the spot? figure it out. we did.

figure it out. >> figure it out. sound advice. >> we did. [ laughter ] >> it's true, i think that pelosi, that example, is a really vivid one, if nothing else. considering the opposition that the democrats had. the compromise that she had to make. and, as i said, there are compromising going on that we don't know about. a lot of what boehner is doing is posturing in order to appeal to people on the base and to donors. he needs to look like he fought the good fiegts. in public, it needs to look like he's really standing up for conservative principles, however confused those may be. and, in private, he may be making deals. he's known to be a man who is good at that kind of politics. this is sort of the thing where it is interesting to see that the republicans are making a bet that this posturing will not count against them later. if they do, they are going to basically have to make a compromise at some point. but they're hoping that this

posturing that they're doing, this fighting against the president is going to help them with the base moving forward, even if they make a compromise now. >> anna marie, ler leah, thank for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> ahead, a tea party republican blasts speaker boehner's leadership after being fired from his committee seat. that congressman is here tonight. and chris christie 2016 rumors are already flying. so are the tough questions, they're flying, too. >> okay, governor. i feel very uncomfortable asking this question when i'm sitting opposite you. >> plus, fighting the poll gram in michigan. the plan to fight for democracy, the right wing media distracts with this. [bleep].

>> we'll tell you what's really happening and why they have it all wrong. you're watchi ining "politics nation" on msnbc. ...so as you can see, geico's customer satisfaction is at 97%. mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance.

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have you joined the "politics nation" conversation on facebook yet? we hope you will. today, everyone was relying on the biggest lie of the year. which came from mitt romney and his team. nixon says romney had to be the winner.

peter says mitt romney had too many lies to pick from. but which of the whoppers won him the prize? we'll tell you later in the show. but, first, we want to hear what you think on this topic and anything else you have on your mind. please, head over to facebook and search "politics nation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends.

republicans may not be on the same page as the american people. but now it looks like they're not even on the same page as other republicans. last week, speaker john boehner

stripped 14 republican parties of their seats. many conservatives were outraged. some even started a movement to fire boehner from his leadership post. now boehner is trying to calm the storm with a letter to the lawmakers in the so-called tea party purge. but at least one of them isn't buying. kansas congressman tim hill says, "with this letter, speaker boehner has confirmed a secret score card was used to punish conservative republican congressman. this is in a closed door, back room session confirms the worst fears of american people that promises transparency was simply an election year republican ploy. this is a real fight within the republican party. joining me now, congressman tim

ulcamp who was stripped from his party assignment. first of all, thank you for being here tonight. >> reverend, thank you for al w allowing me to be on. >> reverend, let me ask you this. do you standby those pretty harsh words? >> not only do i standby them, i think it's very clear. by numerous sources, there was a secret score card. what out raged my constituents is, if you don't vote a certain way, whether you're a republican or democrat, you get punished in washington, d.c. we e we're looking for solutions to big problems. the last thing we need to do is punish people for petty, vindictive things. i'm a conservative. you and i disagree, but i've got to answer to folks back home.

>> now, could you see yourself supporting mr. boehner for speaker? >> well, i tell people we've got major decisions before the end of the year. the real attention will be on this massive, $60.3 trillion debt, this fiscal cliff. but, most importantly, this debt crisis next year. i'm not talking about what's going to happen in february or january. what i want to talk about is how do we solve this problem? how do we get the speaker? and the president actually opened up that back door. they're sitting there making back room deals. open up and let the american people see what's going on. i want to see what's going on. they won't tell either side what the deal-making is going on. i don't think that's the way to make policy. >> now, as you said, you and i may not agree. we've debated on this show, though you've always come on.

are you saying that you believe that speaker boehner has a score card and is punishing you and three others for standing up and voting for what you believe to be right? >> that is apparently the case. we wrote a letter to the speaker and i think if you read the language of the letter, you walk through all of the washington and you see oh, yes, there was a score card and we were graded a certain way, graded down because we wanted to balance the budget. frankly, again, it's very clear. we've got to solve this problem now. i shouldn't be punished because i vote the way people want me to vote back in kansas. >> now, when you say that the president and the speaker need to come and solve the problem, not in a back room, the american people are saying 65 p% of american people that are polled say they want compromise. the congress should make a compromise for the deal. do you agree with that?

>> i don't like to use the word compromise very often. i think we work together. but there are principles that i hold that i can't compromise giving up those principles. we can say hey, we've got a problem in the future. we've got to look at reforming entitlements. the president has agreed to that. both sides have agreed to that. hopefully, we can come to a deal before the end of the year. but i'm not very optimistic! what's wrong with a compromise? if you're talking about coming to the middle, that means some are going to have to give and some are going to have to take. >> well, there are folks that say we have to raise taxes. the president believes if we raise taxes, that's going to solve our problem. and i disagree. i think most economists disagree. i don't think that's a solution. i don't believe that's the right solution. >> but i think what the president is saying is that we have to raise taxes on people that are making $250,000 or more.

he's not talking about raising taxes on middle class people. >> i think he's willing to raise taxes on the middle class and the poor folks if he is not given his increase on the folks making $200,000 or more a year. that's what worries me. that he's willing to tax everyone. >> why would you or i want to risk the middle class and the poor on behalf of the rich people. why don't we just give them that? because i don't want to lose jobs. every study that i've seen is that raising taxes, on small businessmen, that's what i have in my corporation, small businessmen and women, raising taxes on them doesn't create anymore jobs. two years ago, that's what the president said. you don't raise taxes in the middle of an economic downturn. that's where i think we can come together and realize we want to get some jobs.

>> when you look at president clinton, there was a net growth of 23 million jobs with no tax cuts to the rich. in fact, he raised taxes. under president bush, the net growth was just 3 million with the tax cuts to the rich. so, clearly, you don't need to give a tax cut to the rich to create jobs when there's a 20 million job swing between clinton and bush and total different tax policies. >> yeah, there has been growth in the economy despite what's going on in washington. what one constituent told to me if you want to return to clinton-era tax rates, why don't we return to clinton-era spending. the president is talking about raising $60-80 billion. that's about one week of spending in washington, d.c. the problem is we've got 51 weeks of over-spending. we can talk about raising taxes,

but we've got to you grow the economy. if you raise taxes on small businesses, you raise taxes on farmers and ranchers in my district, that's going to cripple small businesses. i'm not worried about ge. they've got a seat at the table at the white house. i'm worried about the small guy that's going to get hammered that don't have a lesion of tax attorneys. so i believe we need a fundamental tax reform. i thif the president agrees with that, as well. >> if you're worried about the debt, and i think we have to deal with the debt, according to the congressional budget office, you'd pick up $950 billion over 10 years by just letting the tax cuts for the rich or those making over 250 a year go for 10 years, you have 9$950 billion covered right there. that's a huge step towards the deficit. >> when you have a trillion dollars of excess spending in one year, what are we going to do for the other nine years? it's a spending problem. we're spending too much money. and the deficit has shot up

since the president took office for a number of reasons. let's go back to clinton spending. when we had a republican house, republican senate and democratic president, they got along. >> i think the president has put spending on the table and some are concerned about where that goes. but are you willing to start with the tax cut for people over 250? there's 950 builton there. let's start there. let's talk about spending or whatever else you want are you willing to at least engage in that? >> no, i am not willing to let the president hold 98% of the population hostage. by saying hey, unless you -- he's holding up middle class tax relief. >> i think what he said, congressman, is let's agree on giving them the 98% their tax cuts now and we can argue later about the rich or let's have the

rich pay their taxes -- or have their tax cuts released. >> he's willing right now for you and him and the congress to cut that deal right now. that's not holding them hostage. that's freeing them. i think it's the other side saying no, we're not going to free them until you give us what we want for the rich. >> no, i agree with the president from two years ago. two years ago, al, he said don't raise taxes on anybody. he said that. and i agree with him. it's not the time to raise taxes. we can argue back and whenever the economy starts growing again. then we can talk about it. but we've got a spending problem. the president has not put any spending cuts on the table. no specifics. and many times, our side hasn't done that, either. show us how you're going to balance the budget because the debt is a problem. it's a spending problem. >> i think the debt is the problem. and that's why i put out what i did. the figures that not me, i've got to leave it there. but i think if we just had an election on that, the president ran on it and won on it. >> i won, too, al.

i won as did majority republicans in the house and we have a mandate as well and we have a mandate not to raise taxes. we have a mandate to cut spending and solve this det problem. >> i think that that is something that we're going to have to deal with if we're going to solve the debt problem. and i think you auought to tell the speaker you have a mandate. don't let them push you around, congressman. i'm on your side with that one. >> we're doing the same thing. he didn't send me to washington to vote for anyone else. you're supposed to vote for folks in kansas, not folks in washington, d.c. >> and the middle class kansas. thank you for your time tonight. >> agree with you. >> ahead, allen west said he lost because his opponent cheated. but tea party richard murdoch has an even better excuse. wait until you hear this one. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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kids are telling santa they've been nice all year. and the first family led the country in carols. but one yearly tradition might be in danger. newsweek magazine says bill o''riley's war on congress is over. >> the war on christmas is over

and we've won. but there are still situations that are totally crazy, like rhode island where the governor will not call the state christmas tree a christmas tree. >> a governor is calling the state house tree a holiday tree. in an effort to be inclusive. bah humbug. but rhode island's governor isn't the only person saying holiday instead of christmas. and some of those people might be too close to mr. o'riley for comfort. >> the holiday season is here, which means it's time for your office holiday party. >> holiday party. >> hey, wilson, got any tips about your holiday party? >> stand around there awkwardly and that's a holiday party. >> a "holiday party"? do these fox holes know about the war on christmas? or are they fighting for the wrong side? sure looks like it. they called their segment holiday party pointers.

they were giving holiday party tips for office holiday party etiquette. an entire fox show has gone rogue. they need a refresher on the fox talking points. >> we're not nuts, are we? there is a war on christmas. >> no. >> if there is a war on christmas, it's coming from inside fox. did the christmas warriors think we wouldn't notice their own colleagues think this war is made up? nice try. but ho, ho, ho, we've got ya. ♪ announcing the all-new 2013 malibu from chevrolet. ♪ with a remarkable new interior featuring the available chevrolet mylink infotainment system. this is where sophisticated styling begins. and where it ends? that's up to you. it's here -- the greatest malibu ever.

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and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. we knew the gop brand was in shamblingb shamblingble, but now we have proof. a new nbc wall street journal poll shows the party favorability ratings is at 30%. close to a 10-year low. well, i've got to say it's no wonder that gop is in full denial.

the rnc chairman says, "the debate calendar is something we're going to look at when it comes to fixing what went wrong on this election. the debate calendar? what about policy? >> this is not a committee to recommend policy changes to the leadership in the legislature. we have a platform. but i do think that messaging plays a role. and i think, you know, candidate recruitment, what to say and how to say it and i think we can inspire with love. >> all we need is love. forget policy. but richard murdoch really takes the cake. he argued that pregnancy from rape is something god intended to have. yet, he's blaming his loss on false accusation, democrats and the lib ra immediaeral media ch

distract voters. nothing at all to do with those rape comments. the gop's problem is learning that the road to recovery only begins with the first step of admitting you have a problem. we're still waiting for that problem. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> thank you, reverend. >> good evening, reverend. >> lisa, let me start with you. do republicans understand why their brand is in free fall? >> what they really need to do is talk about policies. talk about the fact that in washington, right now, they're sticking to this not lowering the tax rate for the wealthiest americans. and then across the country, we see a variety of mishap in policies. an ohio going after planned parenthood. in pennsylvania, just today, you have the governor saying he won't set up an obama care exchange in his state.

we're seeing two different right-to-work laws. all across the country, we are seeing that they're sticking to the policies that delivered these numbers in the first place. >> you know, margie, you're a strategist. and branding is also how people get in their head certain images. and in the new nbc poll collected, the most popular word or phrase used to describe each party was as follows. that's very, very indicative of image and branding and how people relate to just the image of each party. >> absolutely. i mean, at this rate, you're going to have the republican party approach watergate levels in terms of their brands. and it's a brand that's going to the dogs. that's really an insult to dogs

because shambles and checkers would have been more popular this time around. i think it's important for both of these candidates. how do they learn from these experiences? how do they learn from these defeats rather than simply blame voters, blame opponents, blame the media. really look inward. if they're not doing that, then they learn the absolute wrong lesson from this election. voters are looking for policy that they agree with. they're looking for candidates that are fighting for them, not each other. >> alicia, they're facing all of this with the president doing extremely well. he's sitting on a 53% approval rating. his highest in three years. he also has the first positive economic job rating since october, 2009. and it's like they can't figure it out. the coke brothers who pledged $100 million to defeat obama are now postponing their annual post-election meeting, writing we are working hard to understand the election results.

and based on that analysis to re-examine our vision and strategies that are required for success. although some of the needy changes are evident, it will be several months before the state data necessary are to complete this analysis is available. several months? >> it's not state data, it's demographic data. we know who came out and voted for president and democrats and we know that the republicans' message does not resonate with this new body of voters. so they need to be looking at that. they need to be changing their policies on everything from tax policy to immigration. and we still have yet to see whether or not they're willing to do that. they think the message for democrats, because, you know, those numbers sort of show you this is how democrats got their groups back. when you lean into aggressive policies, you can run and win. that's just as important for democrats to take away as it is for republicans. >> and then margie, as democrats

are leaning, as alicia says to a progressive ideas and politics, the outrage continues on the other side. lindsey graham actually compared marriage equality and the marriage equality debate to the civil war. listen to this. >> slavery was out lawed by a constitutional amendment. go watch "lincoln." great movie. the people decided. the question for us is who should decide these things? a handful of judges? or should it be the people themselves? i come out on the side of the people themselves. slavery was out lawed by a constitutional amendment. if you want to propose a constitutional amendment, legalizing same-sex marriage and it passes, that's the law of the land. >> i mean, do they know these kind of statements only move them further and further to the fringe? >> there are a lot of different examples like this. whether it's gay marriage,

whether it's more salient right as the fiscal cliff where they're talking about digging their heels in to protect the one percent? their brand now is defending tax cuts for the top, very top, of our country. and, also, digging our heels in on things like gay marriage where people are now moving to the left. or on comprehensive immigration reform. or even on things like birth control that 99% of the electorate have used. it doesn't really matter what issue you're looking at. republicans are finding themselves being pulled far to the right. and part of that is whether you have folks who may challenge speaker boehner for the speakership. you also have folks that are going to primary around the country. >> let me ask this before i come out of time. one of the rising stars at the republican convention and being tallied for 2016 is chris christie, governor of new

jersey. he sat down with barbara walters who began asking the hard questions he may face in 2016. listen to this. >> there are people who say that you couldn't be president because you're so heavy. what do you say to that? >> that's ridiculous. i mean, that's ridiculous. i don't know what the basis is? >> i think they're worried about your health. >> i think people have watched me for the last number of weeks in hurricane sandy doing 18 hour days and getting up the next day and being just as effective in the job. i don't think that would be a problem. >> having struggled with my weight, as well, i am sympathetic. at the same time, i think it's very legitimate. i've talked to big chris christie fans who said i can't vote for him because i'm worried about him going into office and having ahearted attack. right now, you're right. he's having a sweetheart moment.

everything changes the minute this is an actual policy. >> i've been heavy and i've been lighter. now i'm lighter, but i was heavier a lot longer than i was lighter. so i won't pick on the governor on this one. policy, though, governor, you and i could fight ablt. margie and alicia, thank you for your time tonight. ahead. ahead, if you are in the right wing bubble, this is all you know about the power grab in michigan. it's a distraction. there's a real threat to democracy going on. we'll talk with the former congressman who was pepper sprayed in the protest next. can i help you?

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welcome back. now, you and i may think the big story in the michigan union fight is that more than 12,000 people turned out in the freezing cold to peacefully prote protest the republican powergram taking away worker's rights. but the folks over at fox news have a different version. to them, the real story is that one guy took a swing at another guy. here's the video they've had on a loop in the last 24 hours.

aparentally, showing a protest to hitting a man who turned out to be a fox news contributor. >> now, there is no excuse for violence. but there are some important things to know about this. one, the video has been edited and we don't know exactly what happened before the incident. two, it happened at a tent set up by the coke brothers, americans for prosperity. why did an anti-union group set up a tent in the middle of a pro-union rally? we don't know. but we do know that over on fox news they went crazy using this to cover up the real story. >> now, you can see on the screen left is a fox news contributor. and he was in lansing today.

he was viciously assaulted by a union member. a punch in the face. >> repeatedly punched in the face. >> punched in the face. >> including that assault by union thugs. >> the guy there punched in michigan. he's going to join us here next. >> don't be distracted. and don't think for a minute this fight is over. the battle, the peaceful battle for workers' rights has just begun. joining me now is former u.s. congressman mark shower, democrat from michigan and a member of laborer's local 355. he was pepper sprayed by police during those peaceful demonstrations right outside the state capital. also with me, joy reed, managing editor of the the grio.com and managing msnbc contributor. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having us. >> congressman, what happened with you yesterday?

>> well, i was proud to help lead a demonstration outside of a state house of representatives, you know. i worked in that building for 12 years. and i knew the best place to stand to give ourselves an opportunity to express to the house of representatives a voice of michigan. there were hundreds of us there. we were loud. we were expressing our displeasure with this terrible legislation. expressing the frustration that we've been completely shut out of the process. and, initially, mounted sheriff's deputies lined up to create a barrier from the building, which was fine. and then state troopers lined up to create another barrier. and then they began to push us. and i tried to negotiate with the state trooper. i said, look, i used to work there. what's your objective? they said to protect the building. i said let's just draw a line here that we won't cross.

at that point, after the answer was no, i was hit with pepper spray in the side of my face in my left eye. others got it much worse than i did. it was unnecessary. >> but the fact of the matter is whether this incident, whether it was clearly, as you say, should be dealt with and the altercation that fox is running, they were not representative of the day. moe most of the day, 99% of the day was peaceful, would you say? >> reverend, i'll tell you, i couldn't be prouder of the conduct, the behavior, the messages of over 12,000 men and women from organized labor and beyond. there were, you know, pro-choice people, social justice people, faith community, environment lists there telling the legislature that right to work is bad for michigan, will hurt our families and hurt our state. >> now, joy, the fight ahead, because i wanted to establish there was incidents, but it was mostly peaceful.

and the fight ahead must be peaceful. michigan's gop and the union challenges recalls ballot initiatives. where does the fight ahead lead? >> i think that the unions are obviously squaring for a fight. just real quickly, rev, it is ironic to me that fox news, which is a network that claim that had the tea party was mischaracterized because people showed racist signs that were actually there is trying to refrain this entire fight to fit their old narrative of unions being political thugs. i think what unions are going to have to do now is use the infrastructure that they built for the 2012 election. and, more effectively, deploy that infrastructure in a midterm. that's been one of the failings, really, of democrats, typically. but really with the labor movemeunion movement, in midterms u it tends to fall off. not this time. it looks like in michigan, you're going to have unions

organizing to, number one, combat the way the law was pushed through. but, also, to go after those politicians that voted for it. >> congressman, not only in michigan, this year, you saw a lot of people despite some very clear voter suppression strategies come out even though they cut some of the early voting in half, even some states had photo id, came out anyway, stood in line and turned it around. some nonpartisan groups did the sa same and had people make their own choice. will we see this happen around the country with the midterm elections now becoming a new point of organizing and people come out in a surprising number. you have in 2014 what you have in governor wisconsin, pennsylvania and, scott, in florida. it could be a very decisive year

if people do what they don't always do. and that's come out during the midterm election year. >> we've seen the right wing's play book. we've seen governor snyder's true colors. i warned -- i predicted to organize labor that if we failed to amend our constitution, to preblgt for right to work and other attacks on labor, that the legislature would quickly enact this anti-worker legislation. they did. i was right. we are energized. i'm ready to go. i know my brothers and sisters are ready to go and hold those who -- and activists, accountable. it will be a broad coalition. it will be a people's movement. we will work until this is undone. >> all right, congressman. joy reed, i'm going to have to leave you there. thank you both for your time tonight.

>> thank you, reverend al. >> up next, the biggest political lie of the year. that's next. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®.

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helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ it was a rough year for the froo truth out on the campaign trail. and we called out many of the, um, untruths. but, now, politifact has named the top lie of the year. drum roll, please. and the political lie of the year is, the romney campaign ad that said president obama's policies meant jeeps were now being made in china. they called it braisingly false. let's play it one more time. i'm feeling nostalgic.